Published on: 22/12/2022
Coinage lists decrepit metaverse apartment for $528,000
Crypto-themed talk show Coinage has listed a creepy two-bedroom apartment for sale in the metaverse, the first listing of its kind. The property is situated in New York City in the Decentraland metaverse and has a sale value of $528,000.
This apartment has an unusual, decrepit appearance as its selling point. It comes with rats, disrepair furnishings, empty pizza boxes and moldy, blood-covered walls. It also has a shower in the kitchen, which is seemingly impractical and uncomfortable to use.
Coinage is the first crypto show that focuses on crypto in its entirety. The show’s host Zach Guzmán said he could relate to the sentiments of living in poor conditions. His experience made him eager to see if this kind of apartment would sell in the metaverse.
“I have lived in some pretty terrible New York apartments featuring mice, leaky ceilings, and a shower in the kitchen,” Guzmán said. “If that can sell in New York, we wanted to see if it would sell in the metaverse.”
Those interested in buying this virtual apartment can contact real estate agent Stephanie Turk. She is known for her TikTok presence and has showcased real-life apartments in New York with questionable conditions. With Coinage, she acts as the broker for virtual listing.
“I don’t know why anyone is shopping for a virtual apartment, but what I know for sure is that this is a piece of pop art,” Turk said in a press release.
Turk is an agent working for Compass Real Estate. She uses her social TikTok handle @FarktakteApartments as a comedic outlet to promote sales. Her social media username is also quite fitting — Farkatke is a Yiddish word that means ridiculous or messed up. It perfectly describes the state of the properties she sells.
Real estate in metaverse yields tremendous valuation
Several real estate companies have turned to the metaverse to sell their properties. Landowners can turn a plot of land into a monetizable asset, like real estate or commercial property. It makes buying land in the digital world just as valuable as buying physical home assets.
Users can build virtual land to create space for advertisement, marketing, socializing and entertainment. Corporate headquarters, billboards and casinos are some assets that users can own in the metaverse. Each plot has a different value depending on the experience it provides, which can include collectability, popularity and market sentiment.
Decentraland is one of the examples of successful real estate investment in the metaverse. In 2021, the company sold a 116-parcel plot of digital land worth over $2 million to facilitate its expansion into the digital fashion industry. Decentraland also recorded more than $500 million in sales in the same year.
According to the director of the Decentraland Foundation, Sam Hamilton, they sold their first lands at $20. But, as of December 2022, their cheapest land sits at around $3,500.
“It’s not the land itself that’s important, it’s the experience you build on top of that land,” Hamilton said.
“Just like in the real world, different parts of the Decentraland, different parts of the city, are more in demand than others – like where all the nightclubs are, or where all the casinos are – if you can park your experience there, it’s much more valuable than somewhere else on the map.”
